Detection of Cutting Agents in Drug‐Positive Seized Exhibits within the United States

The following report summarizes a study performed on seized drug exhibits collected in two U.S. states to evaluate the presence and identification of cutting agents. Aliquots of seized drug materials from Kentucky (n = 200) and Vermont (n = 315) were prepared using a dilute‐and‐shoot procedure. Initial analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) followed by analysis using liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF). Active compounds detected overall included caffeine (31.0%), quinine/quinidine (24.7%), levamisole (11.6%), acetaminophen, (8.2%) and procaine (8.2%). These compounds were found with several drugs of abuse, such as heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This novel information about cutting agents used to dilute or alter drugs of abuse is important to criminal investigations and in the management of acute intoxications at health centers. However, common methodologies for analysis and standard reporting practices frequently do not include cutting agents, resulting in lacking or inadequate information regarding prevalence of these substances.     

The Lethality of Female Suicide Bombers

Over the past 50 years, suicide bombings have become an increasingly common tactic of politically motivated violence, and a rising number of these attacks feature women perpetrators. Prior literature suggested that female-perpetrated suicide bombings occurring between 1985 through 2008 inflicted greater casualties, which may account in part for their increased use by terror groups. The current research project ascertains whether sex continues to predict the lethality of suicide bombing attacks perpetrated by terror groups over the decade leading up to 2016. The study utilizes secondary data sampled from the Global Terrorism Database (N?=?881) and the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (N?=?1,722). A negative binomial model regressing lethality against perpetrator and conflict covariates did not observe a statistically significant relationship between sex and lethality. Male and female suicide bombers demonstrated similar lethality in suicide bombing events between 2005 and 2016, although scatterplots suggest some aberration during the years 2009, 2010, and 2016. Pairwise comparisons of perpetrator sex by conflict observed some variation in the lethality of attacks, with female suicide bombers from Al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq, and Iraqi rebel groups found more lethal than male suicide bombers from Boko Haram and the Nigerian rebels. The current research project contributes to the literature by demonstrating the evolving nature of terrorism and tactics relevant to the lethality of politically motivated violent attacks.     

The Malthusian intermezzo: Women's wages and human capital formation between the late Middle Ages and the demographic transition of the 19th century

The paper offers a new explanation for ‘the great conundrum’, the acceleration of population growth in England in the second half of the 18th century. It is argued that it was not only population growth that was ‘different’ in England, but the stagnation of the rise of literacy and of human capital in general, seems to be an anomaly of this period. This ‘conundrum’ has been explained in the following way. It is demonstrated that in England the gender wage gap increased a lot during the early modern period, which was caused by: (a) the switch from post Black Death labour scarcity to labour surplus, which in particular harmed the economic position of women, and (b) changes in the structure of agriculture, leading to the rise of large-scale, capital intensive and labour extensive farms, which had a very limited demand for female (wage) labour. This is also suggested by the fact that on the Continent (in the Netherlands) a much smaller decline of female wages occurred, because there family farms continued to be quite important. Moreover, the decline of English wages had important effects on its demographic development. It helps to explain the decline of the average age of marriage of in particular women between 1600 and 1800, and the related increase in fertility that occurred in this period — resulting in a much faster rate of population growth after 1750 than elsewhere in Western-Europe. It also helps to explain the stagnation in human capital formation that occurred during the 18th and early 19th century — again a feature peculiar for the English development in these years. The explanation of ‘the great conundrum’ is therefore intimately linked to the changing position of women on the labour market and within marriage.     

Suicidal Decapitation by Guillotine: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract: Suicidal decapitation is seldom encountered in forensic medicine practice. This study reports the analysis of a suicide committed by a 31‐year‐old man with a self‐fabricated guillotine. The construction of the guillotine was very interesting and sophisticated. The guillotine‐like blade with additional weight was placed in a large metal frame. The movement of the blade was controlled by the frame rails. The steel blade was triggered by a tensioned rubber band after releasing the safety catch. The cause of death was immediate exsanguination after complete severance of the neck. The suicide motive was most likely emotional distress after the death of his father. In medico‐legal literature, there has been only one similar case of suicidal complete decapitation by a guillotine described.     

液压断线钳与普通断线钳剪切痕迹的检验及应用

目的通过研究不同类型、规格和功能断线钳所形成剪切痕迹的异同,准确的进行工具痕迹的同一认定。方法运用实验观察法,比较法对液压断线钳与普通断线钳形成痕迹特征反映的异同进行分析。结果液压断线钳与普通断线钳从结构特征、剪切痕迹特征反映等方面存在着明显的差异。结论在对剪切痕迹的检验中,需要注意从被剪断头的材质、直径、断端形状等方面着手,区别不同种类的剪切工具,尤其要注重对实验样本的制作,这样才能充分发挥剪切痕迹在侦查破案中的证据作用。     

A Case of Extreme Sexual Self-Mutilation

Abstract:  We report on a case of extreme sexual self-mutilation in which the subject inflicted severe trauma to his genitalia and then falsely reported a sexual assault. The 30-year-old white male did not report the incident for 10 days and then checked into a hospital. The hospital called the Westminster Police Department after the subject reported that he was the victim of a sexual assault in our city. This case is unusual in that the subject's initial behavior and story did not indicate deception. It was not until the subject's computer was searched that investigators determined that the injuries were self-inflicted. Without this critical information the case might still remain open as a sexual assault. This case is reported to broaden our understanding of this behavior and inform investigators of the potential for this type of self-inflicted injury.     

From the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 to the Serious Crime Act 2015 - the development of the law relating to female genital mutilation in England and Wales

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization to include: ‘procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’. It is a practice that affects many females in England and Wales and as a result, specific legislation has been introduced to tackle it. This paper explores the development of the criminal and civil law relating to FGM in England and Wales. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches adopted and considers whether they are effective. The paper concludes that the creation of a specific criminal offence has proved to be ineffectual; that the introduction of civil FGM protection orders is a more appropriate and effective means of combatting the practice and that legal measures need to be supplemented by non-legal interventions.     

“剩女难嫁”的社会学解读

剩女是近年来新出现的现象。剩女的出现与其说是由自身造成的,不如说是由社会造成的,是传统的择偶和婚姻模式与现代新生事物之间碰撞所激发出来的问题。剩女现象暴露出男权制家庭对女性职业和家庭选择的障碍,剩女虽然在婚姻上存在失调,但是她们婚姻问题的解决将是女性在职业和家庭平衡的良好范例。剩女是女性自身发展过程中一个必然阶段,她们的成熟路程也必定是女性人格发展的一个范例。     

女性性犯罪形成的原因

女性性犯罪是女性犯罪的主要类型,具有严重的社会危害性。探讨女性性犯罪形成 的规律,对搞好社会治安,寻求教育改造的途径,具有重要的意义。本文从生理、心理、行为等方面分析了女性性犯罪形成的原因。     

附赠式有奖销售问题研究

作为市场经济初级阶段特有的现象,附赠式有奖销售具有其存在的必然性,但随着我国市场经济的发展和逐步成熟,仍然有许多问题需要解决。本文针对附赠式有奖销售的诸多问题加以分析,全面论证了赠物的法律性质,赠物瑕疵的法律救济及商家不肯赠物的法律救济．同时将附赠式有奖销售与“巨奖销售”、“不正当削价竞销”、“附条件交易”、“商业贿赂”的界限加以划分。认为对它的法律规制应不断完善和严格。